<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE ep-patent-document PUBLIC "-//EPO//EP PATENT DOCUMENT 1.4//EN" "ep-patent-document-v1-4.dtd">
<ep-patent-document id="EP11161092A3" file="EP11161092NWA3.xml" lang="en" country="EP" doc-number="2375453" kind="A3" date-publ="20130213" status="n" dtd-version="ep-patent-document-v1-4">
<SDOBI lang="en"><B000><eptags><B001EP>ATBECHDEDKESFRGBGRITLILUNLSEMCPTIESILTLVFIROMKCYALTRBGCZEEHUPLSKBAHRIS..MTNORSMESM..................</B001EP><B005EP>J</B005EP><B007EP>DIM360 Ver 2.15 (14 Jul 2008) -  1620000/0</B007EP></eptags></B000><B100><B110>2375453</B110><B120><B121>EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION</B121></B120><B130>A3</B130><B140><date>20130213</date></B140><B190>EP</B190></B100><B200><B210>11161092.9</B210><B220><date>20110405</date></B220><B250>en</B250><B251EP>en</B251EP><B260>en</B260></B200><B300><B310>201010147515</B310><B320><date>20100408</date></B320><B330><ctry>CN</ctry></B330></B300><B400><B405><date>20130213</date><bnum>201307</bnum></B405><B430><date>20111012</date><bnum>201141</bnum></B430></B400><B500><B510EP><classification-ipcr sequence="1"><text>H01L  31/0392      20060101AFI20130104BHEP        </text></classification-ipcr><classification-ipcr sequence="2"><text>H01L  31/072       20120101ALI20130104BHEP        </text></classification-ipcr><classification-ipcr sequence="3"><text>H01L  31/0749      20120101ALI20130104BHEP        </text></classification-ipcr><classification-ipcr sequence="4"><text>H01L  31/073       20120101ALI20130104BHEP        </text></classification-ipcr></B510EP><B540><B541>de</B541><B542>Dünnfilm-Solarzelle und Verfahren zu ihrer Herstellung</B542><B541>en</B541><B542>Thin film solar cell and method for making the same</B542><B541>fr</B541><B542>Cellule solaire à couche mince et son procédé de fabrication</B542></B540><B590><B598>1</B598></B590></B500><B700><B710><B711><snm>General Electric Company</snm><iid>101073814</iid><irf>238736/16176</irf><adr><str>1 River Road</str><city>Schenectady, NY 12345</city><ctry>US</ctry></adr></B711></B710><B720><B721><snm>Zhang, Minglong</snm><adr><str>GE Global Research 
One Research Circle Bldg. K1-3A59</str><city>Niskayuna, NY 12309</city><ctry>US</ctry></adr></B721><B721><snm>Zhong, Dalong</snm><adr><str>GE Global Research 
One Research Circle Bldg. K1-3A59</str><city>Niskayuna, NY 12309</city><ctry>US</ctry></adr></B721><B721><snm>Wu, Zhaoping</snm><adr><str>GE Global Research 
One Research Circle Bldg. K1-3A59</str><city>Niskayuna, NY 12309</city><ctry>US</ctry></adr></B721></B720><B740><B741><snm>Szary, Anne Catherine</snm><iid>101091009</iid><adr><str>GE International Inc. 
Global Patent Operation - Europe 
15 John Adam Street</str><city>London
WC2N 6LU</city><ctry>GB</ctry></adr></B741></B740></B700><B800><B840><ctry>AL</ctry><ctry>AT</ctry><ctry>BE</ctry><ctry>BG</ctry><ctry>CH</ctry><ctry>CY</ctry><ctry>CZ</ctry><ctry>DE</ctry><ctry>DK</ctry><ctry>EE</ctry><ctry>ES</ctry><ctry>FI</ctry><ctry>FR</ctry><ctry>GB</ctry><ctry>GR</ctry><ctry>HR</ctry><ctry>HU</ctry><ctry>IE</ctry><ctry>IS</ctry><ctry>IT</ctry><ctry>LI</ctry><ctry>LT</ctry><ctry>LU</ctry><ctry>LV</ctry><ctry>MC</ctry><ctry>MK</ctry><ctry>MT</ctry><ctry>NL</ctry><ctry>NO</ctry><ctry>PL</ctry><ctry>PT</ctry><ctry>RO</ctry><ctry>RS</ctry><ctry>SE</ctry><ctry>SI</ctry><ctry>SK</ctry><ctry>SM</ctry><ctry>TR</ctry></B840><B844EP><B845EP><ctry>BA</ctry></B845EP><B845EP><ctry>ME</ctry></B845EP></B844EP><B880><date>20130213</date><bnum>201307</bnum></B880></B800></SDOBI>
<abstract id="abst" lang="en">
<p id="pa01" num="0001">A thin film solar cell (1) comprises: a back contact layer (2); an absorber layer (3) adjacent to the back contact layer and comprising an absorber material and a dopant; a buffer layer (4); a dopant barrier layer (5) between the absorber layer and the buffer layer; and a window layer (6) adjacent to the buffer layer.
<img id="iaf01" file="imgaf001.tif" wi="111" he="93" img-content="drawing" img-format="tif"/></p>
</abstract>
<search-report-data id="srep" lang="en" srep-office="EP" date-produced=""><doc-page id="srep0001" file="srep0001.tif" wi="159" he="233" type="tif"/><doc-page id="srep0002" file="srep0002.tif" wi="158" he="233" type="tif"/><doc-page id="srep0003" file="srep0003.tif" wi="160" he="233" type="tif"/></search-report-data><search-report-data date-produced="20130103" id="srepxml" lang="en" srep-office="EP" srep-type="ep-sr" status="n"><!--
 The search report data in XML is provided for the users' convenience only. It might differ from the search report of the PDF document, which contains the officially published data. The EPO disclaims any liability for incorrect or incomplete data in the XML for search reports.
 -->

<srep-info><file-reference-id>238736/16176</file-reference-id><application-reference><document-id><country>EP</country><doc-number>11161092.9</doc-number></document-id></application-reference><applicant-name><name>General Electric Company</name></applicant-name><srep-established srep-established="yes"/><srep-invention-title title-approval="yes"/><srep-abstract abs-approval="yes"/><srep-figure-to-publish figinfo="by-applicant"><figure-to-publish><fig-number>1</fig-number></figure-to-publish></srep-figure-to-publish><srep-info-admin><srep-office><addressbook><text>BE</text></addressbook></srep-office><date-search-report-mailed><date>20130110</date></date-search-report-mailed></srep-info-admin></srep-info><srep-for-pub><srep-fields-searched><minimum-documentation><classifications-ipcr><classification-ipcr><text>H01L</text></classification-ipcr></classifications-ipcr></minimum-documentation></srep-fields-searched><srep-citations><citation id="sr-cit0001"><patcit dnum="US2008251119A1" id="sr-pcit0001" url="http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&amp;IDX=US2008251119&amp;CY=ep"><document-id><country>US</country><doc-number>2008251119</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><name>FOREHAND DAVID [US]</name><date>20081016</date></document-id></patcit><category>X</category><rel-claims>1-10</rel-claims><rel-passage><passage>* abstract; claims 23,39 *</passage><passage>* paragraphs [0003],  [0012],  [0017] - [0024],  [0030] - [0032],  [0034],  [0040] - [0043]; figures 2,3 *</passage></rel-passage></citation><citation id="sr-cit0002"><patcit dnum="EP1675186A1" id="sr-pcit0002" url="http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&amp;IDX=EP1675186&amp;CY=ep"><document-id><country>EP</country><doc-number>1675186</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><name>ADVANCED SURFACE TECHNOLOGY B [NL] THIN FILM FACTORY B V [NL]</name><date>20060628</date></document-id></patcit><category>X</category><rel-claims>1-10</rel-claims><rel-passage><passage>* abstract *</passage><passage>* paragraphs [0017],  [0026] - [0029],  [0033],  [0041] - [0044],  [0056] - [0059]; claim 10; figures 2,3 *</passage></rel-passage></citation><citation id="sr-cit0003"><patcit dnum="US2010051105A1" id="sr-pcit0003" url="http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&amp;IDX=US2010051105&amp;CY=ep"><document-id><country>US</country><doc-number>2010051105</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><name>PINARBASI MUSTAFA [US]</name><date>20100304</date></document-id></patcit><category>A</category><rel-claims>1,5,8-10</rel-claims><rel-passage><passage>* paragraphs [0015],  [0020]; figure 2 *</passage></rel-passage></citation><citation id="sr-cit0004"><patcit dnum="WO2009134211A1" id="sr-pcit0004" url="http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&amp;IDX=WO2009134211&amp;CY=ep"><document-id><country>WO</country><doc-number>2009134211</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><name>AGENCY SCIENCE TECH &amp; RES [SG]; RAMADAS SENTHIL KUMAR [SG]; SHWE ZIN M</name><date>20091105</date></document-id></patcit><category>A</category><rel-claims>3-5,8,10</rel-claims><rel-passage><passage>* abstract; figure 1 *</passage><passage>* paragraphs [0029],  [0030],  [0036],  [0050] *</passage></rel-passage></citation><citation id="sr-cit0005"><patcit dnum="US6077775A" id="sr-pcit0005" url="http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&amp;IDX=US6077775&amp;CY=ep"><document-id><country>US</country><doc-number>6077775</doc-number><kind>A</kind><name>STUMBORG MICHAEL F [US] ET AL</name><date>20000620</date></document-id></patcit><category>A</category><rel-claims>3-5,8,10</rel-claims><rel-passage><passage>* abstract; figures 1-4 *</passage><passage>* column 3, line 43 - line 50 *</passage><passage>* column 5, line 7 - line 17 *</passage></rel-passage></citation><citation id="sr-cit0006"><nplcit id="sr-ncit0001" npl-type="s"><article><author><name>DZHAFAROV T D ET AL</name></author><atl>Diffusion and influence of Cu on properties of CdTe thin films and CdTe/CdS cells</atl><serial><sertitle>SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS, ELSEVIER SCIENCE PUBLISHERS, AMSTERDAM, NL</sertitle><pubdate>20050131</pubdate><vid>85</vid><ino>3</ino><issn>0927-0248</issn></serial><location><pp><ppf>371</ppf><ppl>383</ppl></pp></location><refno>XP027815034</refno></article></nplcit><category>A</category><rel-claims>1,7,9</rel-claims><rel-passage><passage>* the whole document *</passage></rel-passage></citation></srep-citations><srep-admin><examiners><primary-examiner><name>Sagol, Bülent Erol</name></primary-examiner></examiners><srep-office><addressbook><text>Berlin</text></addressbook></srep-office><date-search-completed><date>20130103</date></date-search-completed></srep-admin><!--
							The annex lists the patent family members relating to the patent documents cited in the above mentioned European search report.
							The members are as contained in the European Patent Office EDP file on
							The European Patent Office is in no way liable for these particulars which are merely given for the purpose of information.
							For more details about this annex : see Official Journal of the European Patent Office, No 12/82
						--><srep-patent-family><patent-family><priority-application><document-id><country>US</country><doc-number>2008251119</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><date>20081016</date></document-id></priority-application><family-member><document-id><country>US</country><doc-number>2008251119</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><date>20081016</date></document-id></family-member><family-member><document-id><country>WO</country><doc-number>2008128211</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><date>20081023</date></document-id></family-member></patent-family><patent-family><priority-application><document-id><country>EP</country><doc-number>1675186</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><date>20060628</date></document-id></priority-application><text>NONE</text></patent-family><patent-family><priority-application><document-id><country>US</country><doc-number>2010051105</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><date>20100304</date></document-id></priority-application><text>NONE</text></patent-family><patent-family><priority-application><document-id><country>WO</country><doc-number>2009134211</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><date>20091105</date></document-id></priority-application><family-member><document-id><country>EP</country><doc-number>2274163</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><date>20110119</date></document-id></family-member><family-member><document-id><country>JP</country><doc-number>2011523977</doc-number><kind>A</kind><date>20110825</date></document-id></family-member><family-member><document-id><country>KR</country><doc-number>20110031415</doc-number><kind>A</kind><date>20110328</date></document-id></family-member><family-member><document-id><country>TW</country><doc-number>201006668</doc-number><kind>A</kind><date>20100216</date></document-id></family-member><family-member><document-id><country>US</country><doc-number>2011151173</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><date>20110623</date></document-id></family-member><family-member><document-id><country>WO</country><doc-number>2009134211</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><date>20091105</date></document-id></family-member></patent-family><patent-family><priority-application><document-id><country>US</country><doc-number>6077775</doc-number><kind>A</kind><date>20000620</date></document-id></priority-application><text>NONE</text></patent-family></srep-patent-family></srep-for-pub></search-report-data>
</ep-patent-document>
